“How much are you paid?”
“My board and three dollars a day.”
“Why, that’s fine, and you only sixteen years old, too. I shall be well pleased if Tom does as well at the mines.”
“If he does well, I expect to join him in a month or two.”
“I don’t know as it’s wise. Perhaps you had better stay where you are.”
“I might not make as much money, but I should not be satisfied to come to California and not go to the mines.”
“That’s just exactly what I am going to do. Me and mother are better off in Sacramento. However, you are young, and that makes a difference.”
“I must leave you now, Mr. Cooper, and get back to business.”
“Are you a good deal confined?”
“Yes, that’s the worst of it. I have to be at the restaurant in the evening till ten o’clock, but I can get off for an hour every afternoon.”